alltheradreads's Reviews (1.9k)

I couldn't finish this one, in total honesty. I read it on my Kindle and was struggling to keep flipping pages, and when I realized I was nearing 50% of the book and still wasn't loving it, I finally just threw in the towel. Goodreads lauds it as: "A heart-breaking, page-turning, life-affirming novel about love, marriage, family, and fighting for your life, for readers of Jonathan Franzen and Meg Wolitzer." I just couldn't get into the story and the pace felt extremely slow. Hardly any action took place, and I'm realizing more and more as I branch out in fiction this year that I really need the plot to drive forward or I lose interest. I might try this one again in the future, but it just wasn't what I wanted to be reading right now. Totally didn't even take a picture while reading it... oops.

"This volume is a stimulating series of spiritual reflections which will prove helpful for all struggling to find the meaning of human existence and to live the richest, fullest and noblest life. --Chicago Tribune" That little snippet is so true. This book was gold. Rich and wise and heartfelt and poetic and powerful... I couldn't get enough of it. I rarely ever want to re-read books, but this will surely be one I return to time and time again. I cannot wait to read much more by Merton-- he's exactly the kind of Christian writer I love. I read this one slowly because I needed to savor it, and I'm so glad I did. I already want to pick it back up!

I am a big fan of The Liturgists (a podcast you absolutely should listen to if you don't already!) and Science Mike (the author of this book) is one of the co-hosts. He's such a brilliant guy, and he talks about science and faith in a way that's fascinating and wise but not at all pretentious or unapproachable. I'm definitely not a science-minded person, but hearing how science both challenged and then confirmed Mike's faith was powerful. I have so many friends in mind that I want to share this book with... it's a unique one, a beautiful one, an extremely well-written and enjoyable one, and Science Mike is just a really needed voice in the Christian sphere.

This one found its way to me through all the books we get at work, and I breezed through it during my lunch break. It's pretty simplistic and not a deep read by any means, and I felt like a lot of the stories (and there were a LOT) were cliche and basic, like a million other examples I've heard before in the church world. There were definitely some solid nuggets in here, and it was good to read through this and be reminded of the many ways community encourages and spurs us on in our faith, but there's just not a lot of great depth or substance here.

I could not have loved this book more. After talking to a close friend (who happens to be a pastor at my church, an author, and one of the wisest women I know) about feeling like I was in a dark season, this surprise showed up on my doorstep. Such a gift. The words in this book just resonated SO deeply and in the most beautiful, poetic, personal, and meaningful way. I cannot praise this one enough. I've never read a book that just made it all make so much sense and also showed me how beautiful the darkness can be. I'll forever be singing the praises of this book. If you feel like you're in a season of darkness or depression or anxiety of any kind, please pick this one up. I'll even mail you a copy! It's that good and I want you to read it that badly.

This was a grab from the pile of books we get from publishers at work, and it was a great look at a variety of spiritual disciplines and how they can help us grow and mature in our faith. I wasn't overly obsessed with it and found myself skipping ahead at a few points, but it's a great overview book (he admittedly says SO much more could be written about each discipline, but that his intention wasn't to do deep dives into all of them) and one I would definitely pass along to friends wanting to get intentional about the way they live out their faith.

I'm a major Anne Lamott fan. (Anybody else get SUPER excited by her recent romance news?! So happy for her!) I found this one at my local library's annual book sale (aka a wonderful, magical place where shelves and shelves are books are super cheap) and was so glad to finally snag it! I've read so much from her and almost always LOVE it (Bird by Bird is the exception) like I did this one. You can't go wrong with Lamott's faith-based nonfiction. You just can't.

This was another one I grabbed from my library's annual book sale and read quickly on a particularly sunny and warm random November day. If you're a Pride and Prejudice fan, you'll find this one fun, but don't expect anything especially mind-blowing, deep, or brilliantly written. It's fun, light-hearted, easy to read, and interesting to picture the familiar P&P storyline from Darcy's point of view.

A new friend recommended this one to me after I wrote about the season of darkness and depression I was (am?) in, and I snagged it for a few bucks on ThriftBooks (seriously, the BEST for cheap scores on books-- you get 15% off on top of that if you haven't shopped there before!). It didn't blow me away, and a lot of it felt kinda light and fluffy and not really as meaty and heartfelt as I was hoping for. I enjoyed parts of it and found a few passages to be encouraging, but overall, this one didn't really impress me much. (I struggle with Christian women writers a lot, so don't take that too seriously. This one's clearly popular, so it's probably just me.)